Nothingness
by ZA FIYAWURK
Summary: 4TH FF AND 1ST ONESHOT. Sakura has gone deaf and blind, and Naruto's always there for her


**NOTHINGNESS  
**Still don't own anyone.

Sakura sat next to Tsunade in her teacher's house, holding her hand. It had been 6 months since Pein's invasion, the village had been rebuilt, and the last Sannin still had not awaken from her coma. Shizune stared at the two for hours everyday, wishing even one of them would come back to her. She even gave them exams twice a day, to find even a sliver of hope.

That day, when Shizune examed Tsunade, she saw remarkably improvement."Should be any day now," the med-nin smiled. Sakura was a different infection had left her as a wild animal. Whenever she felt Shizune walk near, she tensed up, waiting for a fight. She stilled loved Shizune like a sister, and always would, but everyday, the woman would jam cold, hard, sharp things into her ears that hurt terribly. When that was finished, she would grab her chin and tear at her eyelids to keep them open. And everyday, Sakura would try to rebuttle with biting, hitting, kicking; whatever kept the woman away. She just didn't understand. She didn't understand where the sun went or why no one changed the lightbulbs. She didn't understand why her friends only hugged and cried when they first visited; and still never talked to her. What she least understood was why she didn't know how to speak, and when she tried, she couldn't hear it. This probably scared her,too.

After their 'wrestling match', Shizune walked back to her seat, but Sakura had other plans. She ran out the door at top speed, and before shizune could even blink, had ran outside. Shizune didn't stop her. Whenever she escaped, she ran straight for Kakashi's house, where Naruto lives. Naruto was her constant playmate, and would stop whatever he was doing to amuse or comfort her. He taught Sakura fun games and ran around with her, and they always shared a big bowl of ramen after playing. She knew exactly where their house was, and rarely bumped into anything on the way there.

The apartment buildings were still under construction, so Naruto lived with Kakashi for the time being. Naruto fell in love with Sakura the day of Pein's rampage, when she hugged him and cried into his shoulder. So when she went blind, he was heart-broken. When she went deaf, he spiraled into depression. When she forgot how to talk, he was practically suicidal. This whirlwind of emotions happened in mere seconds, from when she woke up from her coma to when the doctors discovered all of this. What pained him the most was how she could remember everything, so was filled with fear and confusion of her new enviroment. The first days were the worst: The doctors would pierce her delicate skin with their sharp needles on an hourly basis, and she would scream from shock at every one. She tried to explore with her hands this dark and silent world, but couldn't walk five feet without getting hurt. Every time something scared her, he gladly pulled her into his lap and she would sob into his ear. At the end of the day, when Naruto was forced to leave, she would cling to his jacket like he was the last thing on her, and that sent them both into hysterics. By the end of all of this, they were both madly in love with each other, and neither could survive too long without the other.

Sakura stumbled into her sensei's house, crashing loudly into a chair that shouldn't have even been there. She tripped, and a sickening _CRACK!_ was heard as her forehead hit the countertop. She fell to the floor and started to cry from shame, but was quickly embraced by two loving arms. She felt a slight rumble in her ear as he whispered into it. She smiled, Naruto is the only person to try to communicate with her. Sometimes it felt like he was the only person who even_ cared_ about her.

Naruto rubbed her forehead in calming circles as he whispered to her. Gently, Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders and found her way to the back of his head. She pulled him lower to her, and their soft lips met in a long, passionate kiss.

__

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz  
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,  
in secret, between shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms  
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;  
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,  
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,  
I love you simply, without problems or pride:  
I love you in this way  
because I don't know any other way of loving  
but this, in which there is no I nor you,  
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,  
so intimate that when I fall asleep  
it is your eyes that close.

~Pablo Neruda~


End file.
